"Hi! You look beautiful," Sophia gushes as we sit down.
"Thank you! You look lovely as well," I tell her.
I pick up the menu, looking at all the different food choices. There's egg and noodles, chicken and noodles, vegetables and noodles, chicken sauté...
"What're you thinking of getting?" Harry asks, scooting closer to me.
"I'm not sure, I haven't been here before," I admit.
"The egg and noodles are amazing," Liam says.
"I'm just getting a Caesar salad," Sophia laughs. "I'm not a big Thai food eater."
"Oh, I'm sorry baby-girl. We could have gone somewhere else," Liam puts his arm around her kisses her cheek.
"No, it's okay. I've been here before, with my family. I usually get this," Sophia assures him.
I miss going places with my family. When I was younger, we used to go everywhere together. My parents used to do something called 'Mystery Road Trip'. What would happen was one day, out of the blue, my parents would say 'pack up, we're going on a road trip,' and Louis and I wouldn't know where we were going. Sometimes, it would be small, like just going to the zoo. But sometimes, it was big, like going into London. I remember once, when I was about 12, my parents took us to Disney World, in Florida.
It was so much fun. Too bad I'll probably never get to do that with my kids, let alone my parents. I'll probably never even see Saturday again.
"Abby? Are you okay?" Harry asks worriedly.
I come back to the present and nod. "Yeah. I'm great," I give him my best smile, and thankfully, he smiles back.
A young waiter comes over to our table.
"My names Theo and I'll be your server today. Would you like some more time or are you ready to order?" He asks, looking around. His eyes stop when he gets to me and he smirks.
"Um... I think we're ready to order," Liam says. We all tell Theo what we would like, me going last.
"I would like the vegetable stir fry," I decide, glancing up at him. He nods cheerfully.
"Anything for a beautiful lady," he winks and walks away.
"Oi, that's my girlfriend," Harry shouts across the restaurant, nearly knocking over his water.
My face heats up and I play with my bracelet, trying my best not to notice how the whole place has gone silent.
Theo, by this time, has disappeared into the kitchen. Harry looks very frustrated and it's adorable, so I kiss his cheek.
"Sorry babe. It's just, I finally got you, and I don't want to lose you just yet. I got jealous, I'm sorry," he takes my hand in his.
Oh, Harry. You aren't the one who will lose me.
"I will never leave you," I whisper. He grins and wraps his arm around me.
"And I will stay with you. Always," he tells me.
"Well, you might as well propose right now," Liam jokes.
"I just might," Harry winks at me. I think I would like that, once I got to know him better, of course. And once I figured out if we were compatible together or not.
"So, Sophia," I say, trying to include her in the conversation. "You work at Scoops?"
"Oh, yes," she smiles. "I've worked there ever since I moved here two years ago."
"Where did you move from?" Harry asks her.
"Liverpool. It's just North from here."
"Did you live anywhere else before?" I ask her.
"No, I was born and raised there with my two sisters. We lived right by the train station. Some nights, you couldn't get a wink of sleep, even if you tried. And as soon as you would start to drift off, the train would come back. It was a nice home, though. Considering my parents were on the poor side." She pauses. "Luckily, my dad got another job offer here, in Cheshire. He's very good with fixing cars. Someone heard about him, and now he makes good money, enough to meet our basic needs and things we want."
"Wow," is all I say. Looking at her, you couldn't tell she was from a poor family.
"How about you, Abby? Where are you from?" Liam asks me.
"I was born in London, but my family moved to Cheshire a couple months later," I tell her.
"Do you have any siblings?" Sophia asks.
"I have a brother, his name is Louis. He's in college though."
"Is he nice?"
"He's... A bit of trouble. But yeah, I guess he is."
A waiter walks by with a tray of food and I realize I'm starving. I stare at it, assuming it's ours. But, it's not and he walks swiftly past our table. I frown and turn my attention back to the group.
"Are you hungry?" Harry asks.
"Yes, oh my God," I make my eyes big. He laughs, and I laugh too.
"Seriously, I am starving," I loop my arm through his and lean into him.
"It'll come soon babe. It's okay," he mumbles.
Sure enough, a tray is being brought forth to our table.
It's Theo again. Harry tightens his grip on me protectively. I see Theo out of the corner of my eye staring straight at Harry. Harry glares back, squinting his eyes menacingly.
Theo places the dishes on the table and leaves without a word.
"I scared him," Harry says excitedly once he leaves. "Did you see that babe, he was scared of me!"
"Oh, yeah," I chuckle.
"That's a first," Liam snorts and Sophia smacks his arm.
"Be nice," she scolds.
"Aren't I always?" Liam gives her an award winning smile and we all dig into our food.
